Instructors
Becky Glenn
Becky is a registered yoga teacher (RYT) by Yoga Alliance in the vinyasa (flow) style of yoga – receiving her initial teacher training from Stephanie Keach at the Asheville Yoga Center in Asheville, NC, in 2006. Ever since, Becky has been consistently teaching multiple yoga classes each week – first at the popular intown yoga studio in Atlanta, Yoga Samadhi, then in Silver City after moving here in 2009.
Becky teaches various classes, ranging from gentle to vigorous. In all classes, Becky emphasizes listening to one’s own body and following the breath. Becky brings a tender-hearted, playful spark to the yoga practice, creating an environment to support each student’s intentions and needs… while having FUN!
Brooke Cressler
Brooke received her 200-hour Yoga certification in 2013 at the Om My Yoga studio in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Since completing the program, Brooke has been on a continuing journey to learn about the social and emotional healing arts. Upon moving to Silver City in 2014 she studied Reiki, Shamanism, Emotional Intelligence, and continued delving into the Yogic practices of Kundalini. Brooke is a weaver when it comes to movement and the healing arts; she seeks out the teachers that inspire her, and designs classes based on the interweaving of many disciplines and lines of thought.
In Brooke’s personal practice, Yoga has become a sacred space for reflection, emotional awareness, and harmonizing her relationship to herself and others. Yoga offers a space for healing on all levels, and it is through her journey of exploration that Brooke is delighted to offer Movement Medicine; Kundalini Yoga.
Diane Smith, LCSW, CYT
Trauma has touched most of our lives in one way or another, either through our personal experiences or those of our loved ones. Its impact can be overt, as in full blown symptoms of PTSD, or more covertly can show up as low level anxiety, physical tension or hyper-vigilance. Often it leaves us with an anxious mind, or worse, feeling unsafe in our environment or in our own bodies.
In her trauma-informed yoga classes, Diane leads us in the practice of Hatha yoga including pranayama, mantra, chanting and asanas to move us toward feeling calm and reconnected with our deeper selves. In addition, numerous strategies to engage the parasympathetic nervous system are included, drawing from neuroscience, trauma therapy approaches and Polyvagal Theory (calming of the Vagus nerve). It is hoped that this combination of diverse approaches will give participants a wide array of calming and coping strategies to carry off the mat and into daily life.
Isabella “Izzy” Blasucci
Izzy recently graduated from WNMU’s first Yoga Teacher Training cohort. She fell in love with yoga at 19 years old when she was feeling lost. It grounded her back in her own body and heart and has been a guiding practice in her life ever since. She sees yoga as a healthy balance of prayer and play, and brings that into her classes. She enjoys finding the interconnection of our human selves with our greater natural family of animals, trees, and elements that create the rich life we all share on earth. She invites herself and anyone attending her class to embody each pose (whether it is Mountain, Fish, Cobra, Half Moon) in a way that helps us remember that interconnection so that we can live each day feeling closer and more in harmony to all living beings.
Jeff Goin
Jeff Goin has been teaching and leading meditation classes in Silver City, on a volunteer basis, since 2008. His classes provide practical ideas and methods for improving relationships, overcoming anger, dealing with stress and, in general, establishing and maintaining a peaceful state of mind.
Jeff is the founder and director of Lotus Center. He is also a co-founder of Single Socks, a non-profit thrift store in Silver City that donates hundreds of thousands of dollars to anti-hunger programs in southwest New Mexico. He is a practicing Mahayana Buddhist since 1999.
Jennifer Caldwell
Jennifer Caldwell is a passionate supporter of emotional health. After receiving her master’s degree in counseling at the University of Wyoming, she forged a career as a counselor in international schools around the world. During the summer of 2023, she made Silver City her new home (a great choice to support mental health!) and decided to retire from education and to begin working with adults. Helping others with their emotional well-being and nurturing their hearts and souls is what she feels she is called to do, whatever the age! Life provides us with many opportunities to grow – some more difficult than others – and she is excited to be able to support others on their journeys.
Jennifer Olson
Jennifer C. Olson is a registered yoga teacher who earned her 200-hour Yoga Alliance certification from WNMU in spring 2024. Continuing the learning journey by teaching, she is honored to offer a class that is accessible to people across the spectrum of experience with yoga.
Primarily a freelance magazine writer and marketer, Jennifer is privileged to be able to explore interests like yoga. Being a professional storyteller, Jennifer embeds storytelling into the asana classes she teaches. Also a mom, writer, volunteer firefighter/medical responder, and cyclist, the Jenn of All Trades approaches yoga as practice for life and appreciates being able to share yoga and its benefits.
With the belief that yoga is for everyone, Jennifer honors each individual who comes to class for their unique strengths and offerings. She is also committed to guiding students toward seeing the light and Divinity within themselves. Like her teachers do for her, Jennifer hopes to support people toward being more in touch with themselves and others, building relationships that lead to mutual respect and ultimately kindness and generosity. She invites others to carve out time for self-care—exploring and learning through playful and mindful movement—for greater strength, flexibility and balance.
Jim Charleston
Jim received his 200 hour yoga certification in 2009 from the Asana Studio in Golden CO. Living in Villanueva at the time there was limited opportunity for him to teach so he moved to Albuquerque where he held classes at the South Valley Community Center, the Albuquerque Friends meeting house, and Yoga Now.
His most rewarding practice has been with Vietnam Vets and Youth Diversion. In his practice,
he has learned that all yogi’s and yogini’s go to the same spot in their practice, that of
resistance. His belief is that what one does when they meet that resistance in their body
determines whether they have a successful practice or not. If they beat themselves up because they can’t go as deeply into a posture as the person next to them then they will be less than successful. If they go to the place of resistance, acknowledge it, and breath into it he believes that they can then move beyond that resistance. Practiced enough Jim believes that this process eventually leads to the rewiring of neural patterns and when the yogini then meets resistance in their life outside of the studio they will automatically stop, acknowledge that resistance, breath into, and move beyond. This is the philosophy that Jim will be using in his class on Yoga for Artists, Creatives, Radicals and Community Organizers where yoginis will focus on moving beyond resistance and connecting with the source of their creativity.
Jim has an Mdiv and an MSW.
Kit West
I began to do Tai Chi while living on Lake Atitlan in Guatemala in the 90s. There was a generous but cranky Tai Chi master who offered free classes in his garden in the morning three days a week. He mixed basic Tai Chi with Qi Gong and Taoist wisdom. To this day I model my classes after his. I attended his classes for ten years. Upon returning to the States in 2001, I, tragically, left Tai Chi behind, and it was only when the aging process forced itself on my attention that I returned to Tai Chi. Simultaneously, a local senior living facility lost their Tai Chi instructor and invited me to take his place. I discovered Dr. Paul Lam’s Tai Chi for Health organization and became certified to teach Tai Chi according to his format: “watch me, follow me, show me.” I taught at the Good Samaritan Society Loveland Village for five years. I have now been doing Tai Chi again for ten+ years, starting my day with Qi Gong and the salutation to the sun and then the Yang 24 and the Sun 73 styles of Tai Chi. I am now 66 and am evidence as to the benefits of Tai Chi for seniors as well as participants of any age.
Marc Nevas (Acharya Bhavananda)
Marc has been teaching meditation techniques based on ancient Tantra for 26 years. He began his meditation practices over 50 years ago and has traveled to India for advanced training from his teacher Shrii Shrii Anandamurti. He completed over 1,000 hours of formal training and received his ordination as an Acarya (meditation teacher) in 1998. This training enables Marc to give individualized lessons with individual mantras and give initiation with transference of spiritual energy (Shaktipat).
Marc founded a center for Meditation and Yoga and later was the builder and co-director of the Sanctuary Retreat Center both in Northwest Montana. He has also been a presenter at meditation retreats in Italy, Finland and numerous locations in the United States
Natalie Hall
Natalie is a registered yoga teacher in the Sivananda school of yoga. She was attracted to Sivananda yoga for its medical foundation (the guru, Swami Sivananda Saraswati, was a medical doctor), its consistent and structured asana and pranayama components, and its strong attention to yoga’s traditional roots. A typical Sivananda yoga class incorporates opening and closing chants (Bhakti yoga), pranayama (breathing exercises), and asana practice built around 12 basic postures with variations, and with relaxation between postures.
In addition to Sivananda yoga Natalie is a member of a growing movement of rehabilitation professionals working to “bridge the gap” between traditional allopathic or Western medicine and the ancient knowledge of yoga. She brings this intention to her work as a physical therapist for Gila Regional Medical Center’s outpatient rehabilitation department. Likewise, she is able to help her yoga students work with sensitive or injured areas in their yoga practice in order to achieve more complete movement.
Patricia Stone
Patricia Grijalva Stone was born in Silver City, raised in Bayard, and has recently returned home after 30 years. Her discovery of yoga has positively impacted all areas of her life, so much so that she became a registered yoga instructor in the Vinyasa flow style. Her passion is to share the physical, mental, and spiritual benefits of a regular yoga practice.
On a physical level, yoga helps improve flexibility, strength, balance and endurance; and on a mental level, yoga teaches how to cope better with stress by cultivating a sense of ease in both active and passive poses. On a spiritual level, yoga helps to cultivate awareness by allowing the space to connect deeper within yourself. She creates a warm, welcoming environment for students of all levels to come unwind, relax, energize, heal, and strengthen their body, mind, and spirit. Her classes incorporate breath (pranayama), movement (asanas), core strength (bhandas), flow, and music.
SLUM
SLUM studied at the Globe Institute of Sound and Consciousness in 2016 where he became certified in this field. He’s done many sessions, one-on-one as well as group oriented. A sound bath consists of a various range of instrumentation as well as different tones and song, all designed to assist in restoring ones’ vibrational balance.
Susan Mittelstadt
Susan Mittelstadt became a yoga teacher after studying in Mexico for ten years. She teaches in a mix of Spanish and English and offers a class where we focus on developing balance and coordination with proper breathing. There are elements of Vinyasa, Hatha, and Iyengar in her classes. Before dedicating herself to yoga she practiced and taught a variety of martial arts. She hopes you’ll join us in her class where we celebrate the mix of languages and yoga cultures.
Tanya Embree
Having grown up in Colorado, I have a deep connection to the mountains, but have spent many years traveling all over the world. For over 20 years, I worked in aviation and during my travels, I have been utilizing many healing modalities to stay “grounded”.
In 2012, I was diagnosed with an incurable, rare, genetic connective tissue disorder. I suffered debilitating chronic pain and underwent multiple surgeries. However, the disorder continued progressing, and the medical community had no answers. I was told by every doctor that I saw that there was nothing I could do about it, and I was just going to have to learn to live with the pain. This led me to dive deeply into ways to naturally heal mind, body, and spirit.
I am a licensed massage therapist, yoga instructor, reiki practitioner, sound healer, and human, horse, and dog acupressure practitioner. I have studied and continue to explore Traditional Chinese Medicine. Now that I have “landed” in Silver City, my goal is to help each individual I work with achieve a deep state of relaxation. I do this by intentionally using sound to invite a gentle yet powerful therapeutic and restorative process that guides the body’s natural ability to heal. I offer a safe space and an invitation to transform consciousness, heal the mind, and calm the body.
During my class, we will explore the profound healing, deep relaxation, and tranquility that comes from combining mindfulness and sound healing. After a few minutes of guided focus on the breath, we will use voice, sensory experiences, visualization, and a variety of overtone-emitting instruments introduced in succession. Instruments include gongs, Himalayan and crystal singing bowls, tuning forks, chimes, and harmonium.
I am extremely passionate about furry four-legged creatures and when I am not busy bathing in restorative vibrational balance, I can be found in the mountains with my horses and dogs.
Trish Buerger
Trish is YogaFit I and YogaFit II certified, receiving her training in 2001 and 2003 in Wilmington NC. Trish has her B.S.E in Recreation and Leisure Studies and her M.S.E. in Health Education from SUNY Cortland in NY. Since 1992 she had taught Community Health (now Public Health) classes (Nutrition, Stress Reduction, First Aid, Health and Aging etc.) and various exercise classes ( yoga, step aerobics, water aerobics, weight training etc. ) for the Physical Education program at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
Trish also developed and taught exercise classes in Wilmington and surrounding counties for the aging population and disease- specific functional movement classes in various exercise studios, churches, senior centers and wherever else there was a need.
Health and fitness has always been a huge part of her life. In 1982 she was involved in a traumatic auto accident which resulted in a brain stem injury, various fractures and over a month in the ICU. She credits great Doctors, the love from family and friends and the fact that she practiced a healthy lifestyle. It is through the journey of recovery that she feels that she can understand and relate to the various abilities of those participating in her classes.
Trish and her husband both retired from UNCW in 2015 and are now loving their life in Silver City. She is very excited and happy to be teaching at the Lotus Center.
Jim received his 200 hour yoga certification in 2009 from the Asana Studio in Golden CO. Living in Villanueva at the time there was limited opportunity for him to teach so he moved to Albuquerque where he held classes at the South Valley Community Center, the Albuquerque Friends meeting house, and Yoga Now.